TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan nabbed three gold medals and one silver to rank third at the latest edition of the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), reports said Tuesday (Aug. 3).

Only China and Russia came out ahead of Taiwan with a shared first place at the virtual event hosted in Osaka, Japan, from July 24 to Aug. 2, CNA reported. A total of 312 students from 79 countries participated in the 53rd edition of the Olympiad, which was originally launched by communist countries.

The Ministry of Education will donate NT$200,000 (US$7,000) to each gold-medal winner and NT$100,000 to the silver medalist, while also helping them to enter the university and department of their choice. Taiwan has often performed well at the IChO, even finishing first in six different years.

According to the competition rules, each country can send a maximum of four high school students to take part in the event, though they can be trained and assisted by mentors. Initially, 1,965 Taiwanese students vied for the right to represent their country at this year’s Olympiad, CNA reported.